Closet Chronicles
by Bastille Kain
Summary: After casting Moloch out of the computer Willow discovers something very strange with the library computer about a week later. It seems to be linked to the internet of a different reality where Buffy is a television show.
1. Chap 1: Running Down A Dream

Author: Kain

Title: Closet Chronicles

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The character's of Buffy, Angel, and any other show unfortunate enough to be used here belong to other people.

Setting: Late season one and beyond.

Summary: After casting Moloch out of the computer Willow discovers something very strange with the library computer about a week later. It seems to be linked to the internet of a different reality where Buffy is a television show.

Pairings: B/S, Je/G, more to come later.

Rating: PG-13

Feedback: Is always appreciated. Just try to keep it constructive.

Email: If you like it that much, sure. Just be sure to let me know where it's going, and give me the credit, good or bad, for my work.

**Chapter One: Running Down A Dream**

Willow covers her mouth with the back of her hand as she yawns tiredly while pushing her way past the library double doors. Last night she had been up until nearly two in the morning working on her science project, but like normal she was up with the sun.

Now, halfway through the school day, she was paying the price.

"Um, hello Willow," Giles somberly greets the normally buoyant redhead as he sees her.

"Uh-huh," she replies as she crosses around the counter to the computer.

Giles watches Willow with concern as he asks her, "are you all right? You seem a bit preoccupied."

Willow shakes her head slightly as she says, "I'm fine. Just a little tired since I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," she finishes as turns the computer on.

"Nothing wrong I hope," Giles inquires as he stands next to the counter.

Willow looks up at him as she waits for the computer to boot up. "Just schoolwork," she answers.

Giles nods, "if you need me for anything just give a shout," he tells the tiny redhead. Lifting his coffee mug he takes a slight drink before he disappears into his office leaving her alone in the main room.

Willow turns her attention back to the monitor as it flickers to life. Quickly clicking on the internet icon she then sits back to wait for the dial up modem to connect her to the world wide web. Several minutes later its up and running.

Willow quickly types in her first search, or thought she did. Only what comes up on the screen had nothing to do with what she wants. Looking down at the search bar she blinks at the word blinking at her.

Vampire.

That definitely wasn't what she meant to type, but that was what was there. She thought it might have been one of those incidents where her subconscious had wanted one word and managed to override her conscious mind, which hadn't been working all that hard. It used to happen a lot when she was younger and somebody would be talking and she wound up typing what they said instead of what she meant to type.

She was about to retype her search when something at the bottom of the screen caught her eye. As she scans down the screen she sees familiar works of fiction such as: Bram Stoker Dracula, Anne Rice's the Vampire Chronicles. Movie titles like: John Carpenter's Vampires, The Lost Boys, Interview With A Vampire. Television shows: Dark Shadows and Forever Knight. Mixed in with books like: The Buffy/Angel chronicles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Script books. Movies such as: Queen of the Damn, Dracula 2000, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And a TV show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Willow clicks on that site link, sits back and waits for the connection to hook them up, only it comes in much quicker then it had previously. Suddenly she wonders if Moloch's presence in the computer had somehow altered the machine. Or maybe the ritual that had cast the demon out had done something to it.

It took her a moment to scan the first, of several hundred pages worth of other sites that she could link with. She blinks several times wondering over that. Finally she clicks on one site that links her with which claims to have the first four season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for sale on DVD, along with the movie, plus the first season of Angel.

She was surprise to see the sultry image of Buffy alone on one cover. An extremely sad Buffy and a dark Angel on the second cover. A determined Buffy, a supportive Angel, and dangerous looking brunette she had never seen before on the third. The fourth cover had another saddened Buffy and an image of herself with short red hair looking back at her. The display for season one of Angel had a picture of the dark brooding vampire, looking dark and brooding, and Cordelia standing in the background. While the movie cover had Kristy Swanson and a young Luke Perry kneeling on the floor.

Clicking on the cast listing for the movie she reads through it with wide eyes. Kristy Swanson... Buffy Summers. Donald Sutherland... Merrick Jamison-Smythe. Paul Reubens... Amilyn. Rutger Hauer... Lothos. Luke Perry... Oliver Pike. Michele Abrams... Jennifer Walkens. Hilary Swank... Kimberly Hannah.

Willow closes her eyes, squeezes them shut tight, keeps them that way for several minutes before reopening them. Everything was exactly as she had last seen it. The names went on and on. She stops at the bottom of the page when she sees Ben Affleck's name across from the basketball player #10. She shakes her head and clicks on his name.

It brings her up to a list of his movies. Her eyes going wider still if that was at all possible as she reads over a list that stretches some seven years into the future. Daredevil(2003), The Sum of All Fears(2002), Changing Lanes(2002), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back(2001), Joseph, King of Dreams(2000), Bounce(2000), Reindeer Games(2000), Forces of Nature(1999), Armagedden(1998), Chasing Amy(1997), Good Will Hunting(1997). There were more movies but she stops at that point having finally finding one that she recognizes. She had to drag Xander to see it when it first came out in the theater.

Clicking on season one of the TV series she quickly finds the cast listings. The courser hovers over it as she debates going on or not. She wants to find out, but at the same time she doesn't. The tiny redhead would like nothing more then to crawl back into her dark little hole and forget she had stumbled upon any of this.

Only she can't.

It would have been like when she found out about vampires being real and not doing anything to help. And besides she was curious.

With a slight breath she clicks on the link and then holds her breath as the connection comes in. Sarah Michelle Gellar... Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon... Alexander 'Xander' Harris, Alyson Hannigan... Willow Rosenberg, Charisma Carpenter... Cordelia Chase (1997-1999), Anthony Head... Rupert Giles (1997-2001, 2002-2003), David Boreanaz... Angel/Angelus (1997-1999), Seth Green... Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne (1997-1999), James Marsters... Spike (1997-1998, 1999-2003), Eliza Dushku... Faith (1998-1999, 2003), Emma Caulfield... Anya Jenkins/Anyanka (1999-2003), Marc Blucas... Riley Finn (1999-2000), Michelle Trachtenberg... Dawn Summers (2000-2003), Amber Benson... Tara Maclay (1999-2002), Kristine Sutherland... Joyce Summers (1997-2001), Juliet Landau... Drusilla (1997-1998), Armin Shimerman... Principal R. Snyder (1997-1999), Robia La Morte... Jenny Calendar (1997-1998), Harry Groener... Mayor Richard Wilkins III (1998-1999), George Hertzberg... Adam (2000), Mark Metcalf... The Master (1997), Clare Kramer... Glory (2000-2001), Adam Busch... Warren Meers (2001-2002), Danny Strong... Jonathan Levinson (1997-1999, 2001-2002), Thomas Lenk... Andrew Wells (2001-2003), Lindsay Crouse... Professor Maggie Walsh (1999-2000), Alexis Denisof... Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (1999), D.B. Woodside... Principal Robin Wood (2002-2003), Nathan Fillion... Caleb (2003), Adam Kaufman... Parker Abrams (1999), Iyari Limon... Kennedy (2002-2003), Mercedes McNab... Harmony Kendall (1997-2001), Julie Benz... Darla (1997).

After several moments of staring at the names listed above she reads through the information on the page but aside from finding out what people thought about the product there wasn't anything of interest unless she wanted to order the DVDs, which she was debating at the moment. Her main concern being how would they get here since she suspect that she is somehow looking into a different reality.

Clicking back out of that site until she gets back to the original Buffy site she skips over another two dozen sites either selling the same thing or auctioning off memorably of the shows.

Finally she reads the synapsis of a sight that claims to have episode guides inside. She clicks on it, then clicks on the link for season one. Reading down a list of episodes she decides to start at the very beginning so she clicks on Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest. It gives a brief summary of Buffy's arrival in Sunnydale, her first meeting with Cordelia, Willow, Xander, Giles, Angel. Her first encounter with the vampires of Sunnydale, saving her life, Jesse's death, and them stopping the Marster's harvest.

It was the same for The Witch, and Teacher's Pet, Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, all the way down to The Puppet Show. It was like someone had summed up all the major points of their week, highlighted them into a few sentences, and posted them here.

She was finding it slightly disturbing. That someone might be watching her life, transcribing it... Maybe even filming it right now without her knowledge. It sends a chill down the young hackers spine.

It doesn't however stop her from continuing on with her search.

As Willow delves deeper into this bizarre and otherwise unheard of phenomenon the shy redhead loses all track of time. It isn't long before she's backtracked the entire thing to its source.

Mutant Enemy.

She shudders at the name.

Then hacks her way into their databases bypassing their security as if it didn't even exist. Within moments she was in the heart of the beast. So to speak.

"Willow."

Willow jumps out of her chair at Buffy suddenly saying her name at her shoulder. Miraculously she winds up landing on her feet and not her head.

"Where've you been?" Buffy asks concern for her friend making her sound slightly frantic. "You haven't been online the entire time? I thought we went over this whole boyfriend by internet thing."

"Look," Willow finally says pointing at the monitor.

Buffy does and gives a slight start as she sees Darla, and unless she was mistaken the boy she had found in the girl's locker room her first day at Sunnydale High. She wasn't positive since she didn't really pay attention to the guy's face at the time, more concerned with the bite marks on his neck. "What's going on?" She asks as the two of them walk down the hallway talking, only she couldn't hear what they were saying.

Willow alleviates that problem by turning the volume of the computer up.

"I, I, I, I don't wanna go up there," Darla sputters like a nervous teenager.

The boy laughs slightly as he replies, "aw, you can't wait, huh?"

"We're just gonna get in trouble," Darla murmurs.

"Yeah, you can count on it," the boy responds leaning in.

They almost kiss when Darla gives a start drawing a quick breath as she turns her head asking, "what was that?"

"What was what?" He questions her.

"I thought I heard a noise," Darla answers.

He shakes his head. "It's nothing."

"Uh, uh, maybe it's something," she responds sounding unsure.

He grins at her as he suggest, "or maybe it's something!"

Darla frowns at him as she says, "that's not funny."

Looking down the hall he draws out a loud, "Hello!" He looks back at Darla saying, "there's nobody here."

"Are you sure?" She questions looking away.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he answers.

"Okay," Darla growls as she looks back her true vampire face on. Lunging forward she grabs hold of him, he grunts in pain as she sinks her fangs into his neck bringing him to the floor as she drains him.

Then the opening theme begins to play a hard, fast, driving beat providing support for the opening credits. Buffy's face scrunches up as the name Sarah Michelle Gellar comes up while showing her fighting, flipping, cheering.

"Dang. I knew I should've taken the library if I wanted... Holy Toledo," he burst out as a series of short clips featuring him run past with the name Nicholas Brendon caption on the monitor.

His out burst causes Giles, who had been hiding in his office to step out. "You do of course realize this is considered a library for several reasons. One of which..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Xander cuts the older man off impatiently. "You have got to see this," he adds motioning to the monitor.

With a very put upon sigh Giles steps around to the back side of the checkout counter where his eyes widen slightly as he watches a brief exchange between Buffy and her mother as she drops her daughter off in front of the school. He smirks lightly as Xander, so caught up in watching Buffy, skateboards right into the metal handrail. Then he begins thinking about the ramifications of what he's watching.

* * *

Giles takes his glasses off, wiping them down with a white handkerchief. "That was rather..."

"Freaky," Buffy supplies.

"I was going to say alarming, but I'll allow that freaky would suffice as well."

Willow glares angrily at Xander. "Did you really do that?" She demands of her best friend since childhood. She couldn't believe how he had treated Buffy outside the Bronze, what he had said to her. His words had been harsh, cruel, malicious. Sounding more like something Cordelia would have spit at someone. And after Buffy had done nothing but go out of her to be nice to them, never mind the fact that her life had been in jeopardy at the time. "Well?"

"How was I suppose to know vampires were real?" He sputters quietly. It hadn't been one of his better moments and watching it now on the monitor put him in mind of how his father treats everyone. If possible, he felt even more loathing towards himself then Willow did. He had always promised himself he was never going to treat other people the way his father did. Only what he had just seen... He shudders slightly.

"Because you heard them talk about it in the library," she points out.

"Yeah well, I thought they were both crazy at the time. I mean sure, now I'd think that anybody that didn't believe in vampires is a little bit wacko, but I've been dealing with them for a little while, but back then," he rants almost elegantly before looking at Buffy and Giles. "And just for the record I don't think either of you are crazy."

"How... Providential," Giles remarks blandly.

"And I'm sorry," he finishes softly.

"Perhaps we should get back to the subject at hand," Giles comments.

Buffy smiles slightly at Xander's apology. At the time she had shoved his words out of her head, completely forgotten about them because there were more important things that needed her attention, such as saving Willow's life, then to dwell upon the abusive words of someone, she thought of at the time as nothing more then a colossal jerk. Watching them on the computer monitor had actually been worse then hearing them the first time around.

Watching Xander's reaction to watching himself verbally degrade someone, the horrified light that had settled in his eyes, told her that he was as dismayed as Willow by what he had done. Now all she had to do was figure a way out to get Xander back in Willow's good graces.

First though there was the fact that, "somebody out there is filming us," Buffy comments dryly keeping a tight reign on her anger for the moment.

"And we're not even getting paid for it," Xander quips lightly trying to lighten the mood that he had in part created.

Willow shakes her head as she says, "I don't think so." The comment has the effect of pulling everyone's eyes to her. Taking a deep breath she explains her remark, "I think this might be something left over from Moloch. Or maybe a side effect from the ritual that cast him out of cyberspace."

"What leads you to that conclusion?" Giles inquires.

"Wherever this computer is linked up to is more then seven years into the future." Suddenly her eyes light up. "Xander go to the computer lab, tell Ms. Calendar I need all the zip disks she has. Giles I might need you to take Xander down to the computer store."

"If it might not be too much trouble perhaps you could explain what you planning?" Buffy's watcher asks politely.

"Think about it," Willow enthuses. "We have seven years of future crisis at our fingertips right now. Who knows how long its going to last, so we need to get as much of it downloaded as quickly as possible. That means zip disk... Or better yet external hard drives, definitely going to have to take Xander to the store..." She looks up, suddenly aware that she's seemingly taken control. "I mean if you think that that's a good idea?"

"It's a great idea Wills," Buffy encourages her friend, glad to see her exerting herself.

"You sure? I mean I don't want you guys to think I'm being pushy or taking over or anything."

"You go ahead and take over," Xander says placing a hand on her shoulder reassuring her.

Willow manages to glare slightly at Xander while still smiling brightly as she bubbles, "great. I'll write out a list of what I'm going to need. You should just be able to give it to the clerk and they'll get everything for you."

"Smart and considerate," Xander remarks glad that he wasn't going to have to try find everything she wants himself.

A few minutes later Willow hands Giles a slip of paper with her neat, legible handwriting scrawled across it. The two men make their good-byes and the depart.

"So which episode should we watch next?" Buffy asks hoping up on the counter.

Willow shakes her head as she replies saying, "can't. I have to turn the computer off to work on it when Giles and Xander get back and since I don't know if this is a one time thing I want to at least get the transcripts downloaded."

Buffy's eyes gleam as she comments, "you said this was hooked into the future right?"

Willow nods her head a little afraid of the glint in her friends eyes. "Why?"

"Well this means I can get a jump on the styles for the next few years," Buffy answers greedily.

Willow groans slightly at Buffy's comment. She could easily imagine what the rest of the group is going to want. "Xander's going to want to know about upcoming movies. Giles is going to want stock tips." Then her own eyes brighten considerable as she adds, "and I might as well check out the advancements in computers and programming and technology."


	2. Chap 2: The Seeker

**Chapter Two : The Seeker**

Giles had sat through the little league baseball game. It wasn't that he wanted to sit around watching a handful of preteens play a mediocre game of baseball. But after reading the transcript for what was suppose to be the next episode he realized he didn't have much choice in the matter. Especially not once he remembered what the date is and the day the boy was suppose to be beaten.

After his baseball game this Saturday. Today.

If the transcripts are correct, if they actually are foretelling future events then they need to be verified and this is the first opportunity for that verification to take place. The child's name is Billy Palmer, his number is nineteen and he was on the losing team.

According to his coach he was the one responsible for the team losing the game.

Now as he hangs up the payphone two blocks from the ball field he shakes his head reminding himself it had been necessary for him to allow everything to happen just as it originally had.

Without variation.

No matter how necessary it was there's still a small part of himself disgusted with what he has had to do. Its a part of himself he has lived with for years. A part of who he is.

Its not a part he likes overly much, but the Ripper is who he is, who he has always been no matter how much he tries to surpress him. Occasionally though it allows him to do what he finds to be extremely distasteful, even repugnant, without it bothering his conscious overly much.

* * *

Willow gives a light, happy little yawn as the final message board pops up telling her the download is complete. It had taken them nearly all weekend, working in shifts around the clock, but they had finally managed to download every single episode for both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Plus she had also managed to download the movie.

Two hundred and thirty-four hours worth of video files. Twenty-five, five hundred megabyte external hard drives. Nine, some times ten episodes per hard drive.

Willow couldn't wait to get her hands on the hard drives of the future. Ones coming out in less then a decade. She had nearly been drooling over the keyboard memorizing their statistics.

Right now five hundred megs was top of the line when it comes to hard drive size. Six, seven years from now hard drives are going to be pushing two hundred gigabytes. CPUs are going to exceed the two gigahertz, memory chips are going to bypass the two hundred megabyte line.

It is like the entire industry was going to explode any moment.

And the prices. Willow still couldn't believe it. All of it was just going to drop through the floor. It was almost seems like everything was just going to be given away, or close enough.

When she had seen what was going to happen she had almost swooned. If Buffy hadn't been there to catch her it was even odds as to weather she would have hit the floor or not.

Even now her heart is beating just a little bit faster thinking about the revolution the computer industry is about to undergo.

She couldn't wait, she didn't know how she was going to wait. Everything felt like it was at her fingertips now.

Of course she did have the specs for everything and it really wouldn't take to much effort on her part to build it all herself. Some of it anyway.

No, she couldn't do that.

It would be wrong. Like cheating and she would never cheat.

But if she did she would have the most powerful computer imaginable. A computer so powerful it would be able to blow past anything else on the planet.

Only it would be wrong.

With a slight groan she wrings her hands, turns slightly, and lets her head fall to the counter. It hits with an audible thud. A moment later she lifts it a fraction of an inch and lets it fall back to the counter with another thud.

"Hey Wills," Buffy greets the only real friend she's made since moving to Sunnydale. True she likes Xander well enough, he's good looking, and there had been that brief flare of attraction when they first bumped into each other. Which ended the moment he opened his mouth and spoke that first time and vanished completely the third time they exchanged words.

The truth of the matter remains. That if he wasn't Willow's best friend, if the two of them weren't joined at the hip, Buffy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the two of them wouldn't have become the sort of friends they are today.

Much as she hates to admit it there is still that little, shallow, Cordelia like piece inside of her that no matter how hard she tries she will never be able to get rid of. Not that she actually tries very hard, but still points have to be given even for her minimal effort. "What's up?"

Willow lifts her head to pin Buffy to the spot with her soft green eyes that shine with a slightly wild light that Buffy's never seen in them before. "I'm in the middle of a moral crisis. A dilemma of such magnitude it could quite possibly alter what's meant to happen."

"This sounds way more serious then where I should have my father take me for my belated birthday present," Buffy replies placing the box of donuts and coffee tray on the counter. Handing a cup to Willow she asks, the normally rock steady and gentle redhead, "what is it?"

Willow's eyes brighten instantly as she takes the cup of coffee. Without hesitation she launches into her problem. The words just tumble, one right after another, out of her mouth as she starts somewhere in the middle, jumps almost to the beginning, to the end, back to the beginning, and finishes in the middle.

Buffy's eyes go wide as they dart back and forth while she tries to follow Willow's disjointed explosion of words, which if she caught one in three of the redhead's rapid fire explanation she was doing good. It takes several seconds for the glaze over look in the slayer's eyes to fade away.

Buffy buys herself a little time by taking a long, slow pull from her double mocha cappuccino. As she rest the cup on the counter she says, "you should go ahead and build it."

Willow blinks at Buffy's answer. It wasn't what she had been expecting the tiny blonde to say. In fact it was the complete opposite of what she thought Buffy would tell her to do. She is a hero, going out every night saving people. Buffy was suppose to be better then that. Better then other people. She was suppose to up hold truth, justice, and the American way of life.

"But isn't that wrong?" She finally manages to blurt out.

Buffy shrugs lightly as she pulls a donut out of the box. "What's wrong about it. It's not like you're planning on selling it, or patenting the blue prints to the stuff so its not like you're stealing them from the people who made them in the first place, and even if you did, so what. Would it really be wrong. After all you discovered them in the first place so why shouldn't you profit from them.

"I mean I'm going to be using what we downloaded to make my life as a slayer easier. And Xander had that idea about the lottery, you came up with the playing the stock market that Giles agreed to help us out with the investing..."

"Doesn't it just seem like cheating to you?" willow questions worriedly.

This time Buffy shakes her head. "In Giles own words. We're privy to an advance source of information not unlike the Allies during world war two when they broke the German's ultra secret code Enigma. We should use it to its full advantage for as long as we are able," she says most of it in her best Giles voice.

Willow shakes her head. Buffy makes it sound so simple. In a way she is right, but she was so wrong as well.

She could see building one for herself, but to deliberately steal something that was rightfully someone else's. Something that could quite possibly be what launches their career, or keeps them from starving on the street, or becoming a drug addict, or one of any number of horrendous fates that she can imagine befalling the person if she were to steal their invention.

* * *

Willow pops her head up from behind Giles brand new fifty-four inch big screen television set that Xander helped pick out after school this afternoon. Of course school had been full of its usual antics. With spiders appearing and disappearing during class.

"Would you hand me the connectors on the floor in front of the coffee table?" She politely request of Xander who is making himself at home on Giles sofa.

"Sure," Xander mumbles hopping up off the couch to grab the wires Willow is indicating. "When did Buffy say she was gonna get here?" He asks handing the black cables to his best friend.

Willow takes the cables as she says, "after patrol." She drops back down behind the television set. "She said if there wasn't a lot of action out on the town she was going to call it an early night."

Xander nods at the information. It was about what he had expected. He glances over the back of the set down at Willow. "What are we doing here anyway? And you don't have to explain the t.v. to me, I understand what they're used for."

"Its pretty simple actually. I need to hook the adapter up to my laptop so I can run the feed from the external hard drive through the computer and into the television so we can watch the episodes on it," Willow explains as she plugs the jacks into the back of the television set.

"Scary."

"What?" Willow asks standing up.

"I almost understood that," Xander answers as Willow slides out from behind the t.v. She gives him a slightly disbelieving look that he does a good job of pretending not to see. "Now all we have to do is wait for everyone to show up?"

Willow runs a critical eye over the coffee table. "Popcorn, milk duds, M&Ms, Twizzlers, Raisenettes."

"Sodas in the fridge," Xander informs her.

Willow nods as she says, "looks like you got the snack food covered."

"That's me. The snack food king. The king of snack foods," Xander fumbles with his response. Willow quirks her eyebrow at him worriedly. He gives a light chuckle as he shakes his head. "Can you believe Giles actually invited someone?"

"Ms. Calendar. Those two have been spending a lot of time together since the whole Moloch incident," Willow answers as she plops down on the sofa.

Xander plops down next to her. "Who would've thought it. Book dude hooking up with techno pagan computer chick?" He inquires questioningly.

A soft knock echoes inside Giles apartment as someone raps on the thick front door. "I'll get it," Willow says softly popping up off the couch. "Be right there," she calls out moving towards the door. Getting there she peeks through the peephole. "Hang on," she says to the person on the other side of the door as she starts undoing the latches.

"Hey," Buffy greets Willow as she pulls open the door.

"Hey," Willow responds. "I'd invite you in, but..."

Buffy smiles slightly at the redhead's caution. "Its okay," she replies stepping into the apartment. "You need to live at the residence in order to invite vampires in," she explains.

"Thought patrol would take longer," Xander says standing up. "Not that I'm complaining about seeing you or anything, but..."

"I decided to call it an early night," Buffy replies popping a couple of M&Ms into her mouth. "Something's been bothering me all night. Ever since school. That entire spider thing in class."

Willow shudders slightly as she says, "that's been freaking me out since school as well."

Buffy shakes her head as she paces between the table and the television set. "That's not quite what I mean," she says stopping by the t.v. that's nearly as tall as her. Turning around she faces her friends, arms folded across her chest, the fingers of her right hand softly drumming on her elbow. "are you guys sure you haven't heard of this, haven't read it one of those manuscripts, watched it on the t.v.? It just feels like this is something someone would dream up and film and put on television. I mean its the weirdest thing to happen to us since Willow's internet stalker, aside from the whole computer hooked into a future reality that is."

Willow frowns, a slight dip of her lips. She gives her head a small shake. "Sorry, but I haven't come across anything like it, but then again I've only read through the first half of the transcript after Puppet Show. Its about a girl who becomes invisible becomes no one can see her."

"Sounds like she was invisible to begin with," Buffy mutters unhappily at not getting the answer she wants.

"Nah," Xander pipes in. "Everyone could see, but no one saw her. Then one day, because no one saw her, no one could see her."

"That's terrible," Buffy gasps. "We've got to keep that from happening."

"Already got it covered," Xander informs the tiny slayer.

Buffy's eyes widen as she stares at Xander. "You've got it covered?" She asks her voice clearly indicating her doubt.

"That hurt," Xander gripes playfully. "This is something I can handle."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he answers. "No violence, no super powers. Just plain old Xander Harris saving the day."

Buffy gives her shoulder a tiny shrug as she says, "okay. How are you going to handle it?"

"I'll do something I'm good at," he says tossing a handful of Raisenettes into his mouth. "I'm going to talk to her. Maybe take her to lunch, dinner, a movie," he adds an appreciative smile slipping on his face.

Buffy grimaces at the look on Xander's face having a decent idea what thoughts are running around his tiny little brain. At least they weren't about her for once. She gives a slight shudder as she amends that last thought. At least she can hope they weren't about her.

Deciding to get her thoughts off what Xander might be thinking about she asks, "so what are we waiting for before starting the creep show?"

"Giles and Ms. Calendar," Willow replies plopping down in the middle of the sofa.

* * *

Giles makes a check mark on his list crossing off another event that has transpired. It makes two so far. The boys beating, subsequent hospitalization, and coma. Today spiders crawling over students and text books in the middle of class.

Tomorrow would be the telling day. Laura being beaten by Billy's ugly man. Xander's lack of clothes for class, being chased by a clown. Willow's opera performance. Him becoming lost in the stacks, his own inability to read anything. Buffy's father arriving, confirming her worst fear about her parents divorce. Her own encounter with Billy's ugly man. Her encounter with the Master, being turned by him. The fight with the ugly man in the hospital. Finally Buffy's father really showing up so they can spend the weekend together.

Question: Are Buffy's nightmare in anyway prophetic like her slayer dreams?

He scrawls out at the bottom of the page. Then he writes out another question.

Does Buffy's father drop out of her life in the future? Personal, probably have to read all the way to the end of the series to find out. More immediate: Does Buffy release the Master from his prison.

He leans back in his chair, tapping the pencil against his thigh. He glances over at the laptop sitting on the floor next to his new t.v. A television set he didn't really see the point in, but even he had to admit it was nicer watching this one then the little set he had brought with him from England. He still thinks the monstrous contraption looks out of place in his pallor.

He was just glad he had Buffy to move it around. And it didn't look as out of place as it had. He supposes it is just one more thing he is going to have to become use to. Along with this other thing called cable or satellite that everyone had kept going on about. He was going to have to do a lot of research to find out what it is they were talking about.

If he had any idea how to use the cursed little machine he would fire it up and try to find what he is looking for. Willow practically made the things do flips by pressing a few buttons, but he knew his own skill with one is somewhat lacking.

He was glad that Jenny had volunteered to teach him how to use the diabolical creation. He didn't think his ego would survive if Buffy or any of the others found out he is planning on learning how to use a computer. He still wasn't sure if he was up to a task of its magnitude, but it meant he was going to be spending more time with Jenny so he found himself looking forward to the challenge.

Standing up he tosses his pencil to the table before going over to the pile of manuscripts stacked on his countertop. Picking up the top one he tosses it aside after reading the cover.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind.

An interesting if slightly disturbing premise for a story. Surprisingly Xander had come up with an intriguing solution. He wasn't sure if the young man knew what he was in for. Even he wasn't sure what Xander was in for.

If the scripts are accurate then Marcie had already proven that in the right situation she is mentally unstable. If placed under even more stressful circumstances she could become unhinged as well.

The manuscript was useful to him for another reason. Angel was going to bring him the Pergamum Codex. The most complete set of prophecies concerning the slayers during the last days. It had been missing, or as Angel was going to say misplaced, since the fifteenth century. Unfortunately Angel hasn't been seen since Buffy discovered he is a vampire, a rather sadistic one at that.

Weather Angel was going to show back up or not isn't quite the mystery that it might have been. In fact according to their somewhat unusual sources it appears the ensouled vampire was going to play a significant part in their lives. Fortunately he has another source to gather the information he needs.

He picks up the script titled Prophecy Girl. It may not give him everything he needs, but it might provide him with a clue.

* * *

Giles drops his pencil. It falls to the yellow legal pad he has been jotting notes in. It rolls off the pad, to the counter, and onto the floor below. He watches it with glazed over eyes and a numb mind. The last pages of the script flip close on him and he doesn't even bat an eyelash.

On the note pad two simple words are written under the heading Prophecy Girl. Buffy Dies.

Giles simply stares off at nothing. He didn't know what to think. What to feel.

He knew slayers died. Knew that they died young. Most didn't even live to see their eighteenth birthday.

Most of them often live a solitary life. No family, no school, no friends. Their watcher their only real connection to the outside world.

Buffy, however, wasn't like that. She had a family. She went to school. And no matter how much it displeases him she insisted on involving her friends in her activities.

Not that they haven't been helpful on occasion, more Willow then Xander.

It was more the principle of the matter. She could at least pretend to pay even a nominal amount of attention to his suggestions. But she couldn't even do that. She is insolent, insufferable, aggravating, and the most refreshing person to blow into his life.

She deserves more then to die in some subterranean labyrinth. Drained of her blood and left to drown in a pool of water.

There had to be something else out there to refute this.

He would look, he'd search ever tome he has. He'd scour the entire planet if that is what it takes to keep her from dying.

Only he had done that and she still died. Still went off to her death just like she is prophecies to.

"Bollix," he hisses rising off his stool. "Its a bloody manuscript to a television show. How hard could the bastard had looked?" He questions himself as he moves across his apartment gathering up the paraphernalia he is going to need for a late night excursion onto the dark streets of Sunnydale. "Besides," he mumbles grabbing his coat. "He had a few days to discover an alternative. I still have three weeks before the Spring Formal. Still I need the Codex and Angel can get it, only I don't have time to wait for him. I just hope he doesn't mind late night company."

* * *

Xander jostles his way through the bustling throng of Sunnydale High School students almost unnoticed. Today was his big day. He was going to prove to Willow, Buffy, and Giles that he could be the hero and save the day, avert a minor catastrophe, all without the aid of super powers.

Now all he had to do was find Marcie.

It was a good thing he had looked through last years yearbook and found out what she looks like. If he hadn't done that he doubts if he'd be able to recognize her.

He doesn't know why he hadn't remembered her. He had gone to school with her his entire life but never really noticed her. From her picture she is good looking if a little plain.

How someone could just turn invisible still didn't make a lot of sense to him. Is it really possible for people to feel so ignored that they simple vanish from sight.

It was probably a problem for someone with a bigger brain then him to solve. Not that he couldn't solve it if he actually wants to. He simply didn't want to.

After all, what would people like Willow and Giles do if he went around doing the thinking. By not being smart he was being considerate to all the people that were. If anybody ever took a moment to think about that they would see all of his sacrifices and realize just how much of a humanitarian he is.

While he was imagining the impossible he might as well go for the big one and fantasize that one day Buffy might find him desirable, might see him as something other then a friend.

He chuckles to himself at the thought. Deep down he knew that Buffy would never see him as anything other then a friend. It still didn't stop him from having his fantasies and making a fool of himself.

He spots her as steps into the t juncture of the two connecting hallways. An oval shape face with large round eyes, light brown hair that hangs to her shoulders. She wasn't as thin as Buffy or Willow but she wasn't what anybody would consider heavy either. She was definitely what everyone would think of as attractive, yet even standing in a crowd of people she looks completely alone.

Taking a deep breath Xander settles the fluttering in his stomach. He always hated meeting new people but usually hid behind a mountain immaturity and humor. This way if he made a fool of himself people would think it a deliberate attempt on his part.

The crowd was beginning to take off, leaving Marcie standing at the back of their wake like a lost puppy unsure of weather she should follow or not. He could just about feel his heart wrench watching her standing there.

Deciding he didn't have any time to waste he calls out, "Marcie," as he trots slowly towards her. Her head whips around, her dark eyes the size of saucers as she scans the hallway for who had called her name. Xander smiles as he comes to a stop next to her, "hey."

"You sure you're talking to the right person?" She demands suspiciously.

He shoves his hands into the pocket of his jeans as he shrugs boyishly. "Unless there's another Marcie Ross standing next to you that I can't see?" He inquires with a tentative smile.

Marcie's eyes harden on Xander sensing a joke at her expense she didn't understand. He quickly pulls his hands out of his pockets raising them in defense as he mumbles, "sorry. Bad joke," he adds with a shake of his head. "Look me and Willow are having a disagreement and we need a third, impartial opinion to settle it and I was kind of hoping you could help us out?"

"Why not ask Buffy?" She questions with a hard voice.

"I would, but she always agrees with Willow which means I always lose," he answers with a hopeful smile.

"And you want someone whose opinion matches your own," she replies in a speculative tone.

"Wouldn't you?"

* * *

"Did you see Giles this morning?" Buffy asks Willow as she picks up her apple. It was the only thing on her lunch tray she had the courage to eat.

Willow gives her head a slight shake as she replies saying, "he wasn't in when I got here this morning which is kind of weird considering he's always like the first person here."

"Well he was here by the time I got here. I think he was wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday," Buffy confides in a horrified whisper.

The redhead frowns slightly. "How can you tell? One Giles suit looks pretty much like another to me," she adds opening her brown paper bag.

Buffy swallows the piece of apple she was chewing. "Trust me," she says in a knowing voice.

"Hey guys," Xander says greeting Buffy and Willow as he sets his tray down on the table. "Wills, Buff this is Marc."

Buffy frowns slightly as she glances at Xander. Turning her attention back to Marcie she says, "and someday we'll even teach Xander how to complete peoples names," she jokes lightly as Marcie sits down at the table. "I'm Buffy, that's Willow and you must be Marcie. Its good to see you... I mean its good to meet you. Its good to meet you because I never have before."

Marcie gives Buffy a strange look before she answers. "Its nice to meet you as well." She gives Xander a sharp glance as she asks, "so what's this earth shattering question that you need my expert opinion to settle."

The anger in her voice was easy for everyone to hear. It was obvious for Buffy to see that Marcie thought she was bring used as the butt for some joke because no matter how low on the totem pole Willow and Xander are, and even herself, they were still higher then Marcie.

At least they were noticed. It might not be a good kind of noticed, but it is better then being ignored.

"Now remember this could have important social ramifications the..."

"Now there's a word I never thought to hear coming out of your mouth," Cordelia interrupts Xander as she steps up behind him. "Not that I ever really hoped to hear any of the words that normally spill out of your mouth, but I always assumed they'd be more monosyllabic."

"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your company Cordelia?" Buffy asks icily.

"Company?" Cordelia sneers, "please. I just heard about this girl that they pulled out of the basement, Laura Jonoven, and I thought you guys might like to know about it because, well... You guys just seem like you're involved in all the weird stuff that goes on in this school and there's been some really weird stuff going on lately."

Buffy stands up locking eyes with Cordelia, "where did they find her?"

Cordelia seems to lean back under Buffy's glare. "In the basement. Where the students go to smoke," she finishes.

Buffy nods sharply, turns quickly, and exits the cafeteria. Not in a rush but definitely not wasting any time either.

With her news delivered Cordelia follows Buffy's lead and strides away from the table. It wouldn't do to be seen in the company of the geek patrol for too long, even if she did find their company a little more refreshing then the sheep that flocked around her. Still appearances had to be maintained.

"Like I was saying," Xander picks up from where he left off.

* * *

"You knew!" Buffy screams at Giles from the other end of the thick, dark, hardwood table that is the center piece of the library. Her fingers crunching the chair back she happens to be gripping at the moment. In a lower, but even more driven voice she continues. "You knew what I was... What we were all going to go through and you let it happen."

She couldn't believe he had done that to her. She could still feel all the anguish, the pain of having to listen to her father tell her everything was her fault. Confirming, reaffirming her worst fears. She still remembers what it felt like to be a vampire. To crave blood.

That none of it was real didn't matter. She felt it. She lived it.

And he let it happen.

"I didn't know..." Giles begins.

"You had the damn transcript!" Buffy shouts snapping the back of the chair in her hands to splinters like dry twigs.

The display of her strength, or her anger doesn't faze Giles in the slightest as he responds saying, "an unsubstantiated rumor that had yet to be proven."

"And you just had to prove? You couldn't find another way, like maybe buying a lottery ticket?"

"As your watcher its my job to make the decisions you are not capable of making," he replies matching her anger with his own.

Buffy's eyes flare as her anger seethes. "Why you pompous," she begins but stops as she whirls away from him. She takes a few steps toward the door reigning her temper in. After taking a couple of deep breathes she turns back around. "What would you have done if they were wrong? What if instead of being beaten so badly he wound up in a coma he died? What would you have done then?"

"And what would you have done, taken it upon yourself to beat the coach? Teach him a lesson for something he may or may not do?" He fires back.

"Yes," Buffy hisses.

"And what would that have accomplished? What would we have learnt from that? We still wouldn't know if these transcripts are real or nothing more then elaborate hoaxes," he reminds her lowering his voice towards the end.

Buffy kicks the shattered remains of the chair. "At least I would have been doing something and not standing around while it happens," she growls softly.

Giles glances down at Buffy's comment. Its a slight move but more then enough to catch her eye. As is the guilt she sees flash over his face and disappear with the suddenness of a whip crack.

"You watched it happen," she says in horror.

Out of everything she had thought Giles capable of doing watching a young boy being beaten into a coma never even came up in her head. She had an easier time imagining him as a cross dressing, crack dealing prostitute. She could imagine that a long time before the other and that had been as low as she thought it would go.

"I can't be here," she says grabbing her bag from the table. She takes a couple of steps towards the door before turning back around suddenly to face him. "How could you?" She pleads with tears rolling down her cheeks. "He's just a child and you stood there and watched and did nothing while he was being beaten into a coma."

"I did what needed to be done," he mumbles to softly for her to hear over her own words.

"What else should I have expected though from somebody who takes pride in the fact their called a watcher," she continues with a slight shake of her head. "You know what," she adds after a brief pause, "we should stop being friends with Marcie so we can watch her go invisible and slice up Cordelia. Bet we could all get a good laugh out of watching that.

"Or maybe you've read something else in one of those other unsubstantiated rumors... Oh wait, silly me. I forgot they've been substantiated now thanks to the great watcher Rupert Giles. Something that maybe you'd like to share with me?" She demands then stops waiting for his answer.

The seconds seem to drag into minutes as the two stare at each other. "Why am I..."

"You're going to die," he says suddenly cutting her off.

Buffy snorts derisively as she says, "so not a news flash. I already know being a slayer equals a quick expiration date."

"Saturday, June seventh. Nineteen ninety-seven," Giles says softly.

Buffy blinks at him several times saying, "thats the night of..."

"The Spring Formal," Giles cuts in. "Yes, I know. I wanted to wait before telling you. Find some piece of evidence, a scrape, anything that can refute this..."

"That's less then three weeks away," Buffy says numbly as all the emotion seems to drain from her.

"Angel had a copy of the Pergamum Codex which confirms the events but I..." He begins explaining.

Buffy's head snaps back up at the mention of the ensouled vampire. "Angel," she says as if its the most important word in the English language.

"Yes I went to see Angel this morning because I discovered..." He starts again.

"I gotta go," Buffy remarks turning around. "I got to get out of here," she adds rushing towards the door.

Giles lets out a deep breath as the double doors swing to and fro. "I think I may have found a way around the prophecy," he says loudly. Dropping into the chair he runs his fingers through his hair.

Things could have gone better. Then again they could have gone worse as well. He had forgotten how perceptive Buffy is. The last thing he had wanted was her finding out he had witnessed the beating Billy had received at the hands of his coach. He doubts if Buffy will ever truly forgive him for his actions, or lack there of, concerning Billy, but they should still be able to work together.

If only she had stayed to listen to his plan instead of bolting like a rabbit startled by a fox. Then she might not spend the weekend thinking she only had three weeks left to live. It wasn't until after he had left Angel's with the codex in hand that he had begun mulling a few facts over.

This show Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for seven seasons. It is highly unlikely to believe there would be two slayers named Buffy, especially one right after another. He didn't think two mothers would be cruel enough to saddle their daughters with that name. With that on his mind he had gone back to his flat and finished reading the rest of the transcript for Prophecy Girl.

His theory was right. Buffy had lived there and she would live here as well. As long as he could convince Xander and Angel to work together.

And he would have to convince Buffy that his plan would work as well.


	3. Chap 3: Feel Like A Number

Chapter Three: Feel Like A Number

Buffy sat on the floor, she was bent forward slightly with her knees drawn to her chest. Her forehead rested on her knees and her fingers were laced together around her shins.

The corridor was clean, a grey speckled linoleum covered the floor. The walls would benefit from a fresh coat of desert brown paint. The current coat was faded from age.

She looked so peaceful. Her breathing was deep, steady… rhythmic. As if she were resting.

Buffy was far from resting. Her head was swimming in doubt, confusion. She felt lost, fumbling blindly through a blizzard.

Her world wasn't real anymore. The foundation of her world was no longer stable; the kilter was off, it had been destabilized.

Giles had seen to that.

Good, evil. They were just words, definitions written on paper, but they didn't mean anything.

Not now.

Not after Giles.

Good men were supposed to be good. They were supposed to do good.

Standing aside. Not acting. Not holding yourself accountable for your actions.

That was, if not evil, indifferent and indifference was only a short step.

Giles had skirted a line… More then skirted, he had danced three steps over that line and Buffy didn't know what that made him.

Didn't know where that left them?

Not that she had to worry.

Three weeks.

Three weeks and it would be over.

Three weeks and she would be dead.

She hated Willow. Hated that she had stumbled upon… Her life in full Technicolor and 5.1 Dolby surround sound.

She despised Joss Whedon. The arrogant bastard played god with her life. His whim became her misery. She didn't want to think about Sarah Michelle Gellar, what she would do to the woman who portrayed her.

She would never have to wonder what it would be like to learn she was terminally ill.

It would feel exactly like this. The finality of watching bright red block numbers cycle down backwards until they read zero across the board.

Twenty one days.

No prom. No falling in lust. No falling in love. No gala wedding. No wedding night. No honeymoon. No learning to drive. No racing down Santa Monica at two a.m. Never getting arrested for petty larceny.

So much.

Too much.

Most of it she had already resigned herself to when she had discovered the one main drawback to the whole slayer package.

Early, and more often then not, violent death.

While a few slayers lasted into their early twenties, it was rare. Far more common were all the slayers that never saw seventeen. Of which she was going to be the latest statistic in a long line of statistics. Like one of her mom's songs said, "Feel like a number. Just like a number."

Only she didn't want to be a number. "Damn it," she growled under her breath and slammed her fist into the floor. The tile caved and the wood underneath splintered creating a small rut. "I'm not a number."

There was so much more she wanted out of life. So much more…

Buck the odds. Become the oldest, most renowned slayer to ever live. Set the standard for a thousand generations to come.

She would even settle for a year. Two years… maybe? Either was preferable when stood side by side with twenty-one days.

Buffy didn't know how long she had been sitting in the hall. It was more then a minute. She was sure of that. How much more was the question?

She lifted her head and stared at the door with a bland expression. Her eyes were distant, vague. They lacked their normal spark. Caustic light danced angrily within her green orbs.

Buffy needed to talk, it was the reason she came here, hoping Angel would be home. She didn't trust the ensouled vampire, not entirely, not after the incident last month with Darla and her mother. It was a matter of there not being anybody else.

Willow and Xander, neither one, would understand what she was going through. How could they? Before her, their lives had been average, ordinary, a little on the crappy side since they were, technically speaking, freaks and geeks. If not for her entering their lives, they would never have been sucked into her dark world. A world where monsters did lurk under children's beds and in their closets waiting, waiting, waiting to pounce, devour them whole or strip their bones of their flesh keeping them alive as long as possible, savoring the sweet nectar of their agony as much as their blood and meat. A world where vampires were commonplace and nobody mentioned the bloodless corpses. A world where powerful witches stole their daughter's body and your worst fears could be realized in the harsh light of day.

Her mother was even worse. Unlike her friends, her mom knew nothing about vampires or demons or a prophecy that said her daughter was going to die in twenty days.

Giles…

Giles was simply unacceptable.

She wasn't sure if she would ever be able to talk to her watcher again.

There was Snyder. But only if she could kill him afterward.

Now she sat in the hall opposite the door to Angel's apartment.

Her luck, which was as bad as luck could get was running true to form; Angel wasn't home.

Or he was so quiet she couldn't hear him.

One thing she knew, she was getting tired of sitting in the hallway.

* * *

The whispered thud of feather light footfalls on wood worn to a smooth polish echoed loudly in Angel's ears as he climbed the flight of stairs to reach his floor. As he climbed the stairs he saw the banister, made from a dark burgundy wood, he saw the off-white walls, with their layer of grime built up from years of greasy hands sliding up and down the surface. He saw the knob was missing from the post above.

He saw it all, but didn't see any of it.

His mind was elsewhere.

It was on her again. She had invaded his thoughts. She pervaded his life. He couldn't get her out of his head.

He had gone back to the Bronze, to the scene of his crime. He had stood in the exact spot. He always expected to feel her when he stood there, but so far nothing.

No ghostly whisper calling his name. No sense of her essence.

Just nothing.

Angel thought he should feel guilt, damnation, different. Changed fundamentally.

Killing your sire was considered bad form.

Killing your sire to save the slayer was blaspheme of the highest order.

He still wasn't sure why he had chosen Buffy over Darla. Darla had been his past, a past he had no desire to rehash and revisit.

Faces still haunted him every night.

With Buffy it was different. When he was near her, his sins didn't seem so heavy, the world didn't look so bleak.

He sensed a future.

Like it or not he felt himself drawn to Buffy.

That had been before she learnt the truth of him. Before she had seen his true face, not the mask he hide behind.

Buffy hadn't killed him.

She was so intent on seeing him, only him. Not the other thing in him.

He had done things; as a vampire, as a man, with a soul, without one… Transgressions so vile he thought himself irredeemable.

Only Buffy…

Angel paused as he opened the door to his landing.

Buffy had been here, her scent was still strong. It was fresh; early morning sunlight splashing off of dew covered lilacs.

A frown creased his brow. Buffy's scent was strong in the hall, but there was only the faintest trace in the stairwell. He would have noticed it earlier if he had been paying attention.

Buffy was still here. It was all that made sense. There was no other way out of the building.

But she wasn't in the hall.

His gaze traveled over the other doors embedded in each wall. He didn't know his neighbors, but he knew enough to guarantee Buffy wasn't here to see any of them.

Dark eyes settled on his door. A sense of anticipation began a slow broil through him; hairs standing on end, goose bumps shivered along his flesh, ice burned deep along his veins.

He pushed the door open with little surprise to find his lock broken. When a slayer wanted in someplace, a thin piece of steel wasn't going to keep her out.

Stepping into the dark beyond, Angel pushed the door closed. The darkness was little more then dusk to him as he looked around the sparsely furnished room. He didn't see Buffy but her scent was stronger inside then out.

He swept his gaze over the room once more. His head stopped moving when he saw the small hump in his bed.

He knows it was Buffy the instant his eyes had settled on her body. She was curled up in a tight fetal position.

The ice melted from his veins.

For the first time in years he felt alive.

If his heart beat, he would hear blood thundering in his ears.

He could though, not his, but Buffy's as she lay on his bed sleeping.

So peaceful, so innocent and trusting.

Knowing what she knew and still falling asleep.

He didn't deserve it. He needed to suffer. He needed to be punished.

Not have this sense of contentment sweep over him every time he saw her. More then ever before.

* * *

Buffy sat on Angel's bed, her body turned at a slight angle so she could watch the vampire as he paced the length of the small room while he digested her information. Her right ankle was folded under her left thigh. Her left hand held onto her right toes, her right forearm rested on her left thigh.

There was still more to tell, much more. She didn't want to come across as a hysterical girl telling a disjointed tale. Not now, not in front of this man.

His brows were woven together in a tight furrow. He was obviously giving everything she said a lot of thought.

She wasn't used to that.

Unconsciously Angel scratched at his jaw, just under his earlobe. He passed a tall reed mesh-changing screen. He stopped and turned questioning eyes on her.

He let her sleep for awhile, would have let her sleep longer but she had woken up in quite a state. Frantic, frenetic. It had taken him nearly ten minutes to calm her down.

Angel had thought about calling Giles while Buffy slept but he didn't have the Watcher's phone number and the closest phone to him was the pay phone at the corner market. He also didn't want to leave her alone longer then he had to.

Something was going on, Angel was smart enough to ferret that out. A couple nights ago Giles had shown up at his door armed for bear… Vampire. With a bottle of holy water in hand and crossbow aimed at his heart, Giles demanded that he produce the Pergamum Codex. That Giles even knew he had access to the Codex was a revelation, and Buffy had added another piece to the puzzle; small or big, he wasn't sure yet, but with a little subtle prodding he knew Buffy would part with a few more secrets.

"Why would he just watch?" It was a whispered murmur for his ears alone. That was the perception. Angel could certainly picture Giles observing the beating with a keen, but detached interest. They were called watchers for a reason.

Taken individually they're as bloodless as any corpse. They had to be. If they weren't, if they actually cared for their charges they would hardly be able to send them out to face almost certain death every night.

Angel didn't want to think about the organization as a whole; the type of man that could claw his way to the pinnacle of such a society.

"I know." The words were more huffed then spoken. After hours of thinking she still had no definitive answer for the same question. She knew what Giles said, but she refused to accept his explanation. "He could have done… Something. The integrity of the information needs to be verified."

The last sentence had taken on more polish. If it was suppose to be an imitation of a British accent, Angel found it to be an appalling one. Unless it was meant to be mocking.

Angel turned knowing eyes on Buffy. "Are you saying Giles knew the attack was going to happen?" _How_? _How could he know such a thing_?

He watched with interest as Buffy looked away at his question, she nibbled on her lower lip as she stared away, looking at nothing as far as Angel could tell.

Buffy was torn. Tell Angel the truth or make something up. She wasn't gifted as a liar, her mother always said it was her one redeeming quality. Angel didn't know that about her.

Nor was she anywhere near as hopeless as Willow. Her tongue didn't inflate like a balloon that tied itself into a pretzel; her face didn't turn purple from lack of oxygen.

"It all started last week," She began while lifting innocent eyes to Angel, "When Willow scanned Moloch into the library computer… Progressed to Email dating but I had to put the kibosh on their first date, you know, her being the kidnapped best friend. Him being an evil demon inhabiting ultra nasty robot body while still being linked to cyberspace. Best friend's computer teacher turned out to be a computer pagan witch who expunged Moloch from the internet. Somehow… We're not really sure, but we think… Willow theorized anyway, that the computer's now linked to a future reality…"

"Your future selves have been telling you what's going to happen?" Angel speculated softly. That just didn't feel right. He suspected there was something else, something more.

Buffy glanced off to the side while trying to think of the best way to break the news. _How do you tell someone that in some far off reality_,_ their life has been reduced to a reoccurring bit character on a weeknight Horrody_._ So isn't gonna it take well_.

Looking back up her expression firmed softly. He wasn't going to believe her. Buffy really couldn't blame him. Even by Sunnydale standards, her limited sampling of them, this was out there.

If she hadn't seen it for herself, she wouldn't have believed it.

As simple as possible, she said, "A television show."

"Huh?" His face stretched back as he tried to wrap his mind around Buffy's words. "Swear you just said it was a television show?"

Buffy nodded once. "I did."

Angel tried again, but still felt wrong; so very wrong. "How can such a thing be possible?"

"Ask Willow if you want specifics," Buffy answered. "Seeing yourself on TV, something you've done, so… dramatized, theaterized- knowing that somebody's been capturing your life on film. It's kind of creepy."

"Is it something that resembles your life? Actors, actresses, sets, costumes, directors?"

Buffy almost laughed. It was so expected, the kind of question somebody would ask that hasn't experienced it first hand. From what Giles said it was almost identical to what Jenny asked.

Her expression froze for a moment. She had forgotten all about her furious disdain of Giles, and couldn't help but wonder- _Is it me_? _Somebody's writing_… _Trying to force their show back where they want_? _Are my emotions even my own_, _or are my feelings just the playground for the writers_? _Something to be manipulated_, _twisted for their ends_?

She wasn't about to let go of her anger so quickly, but then wondered if she wasn't being irrational. Holding on simply because someone might be trying to coerce her forgiveness.

"If, by resemble, you mean watching your life in disturbingly accurate detail then you hit the nail on the head?" Buffy finally answered. The sarcasm was heavy, almost too much so.

"How long?"

"You believe seven years?" Despite what she said earlier, there was excitement churning in Buffy's voice. It was subtle, barely a tremor, but Angel could hear it. "You got your own spin off. Four years, I think?"

That information took Angel by surprise; a television show was going to be based off his life. Angel wasn't sure he liked that.

* * *

"Why would Buffy just take off?" Willow whispered. Her voice was laden with confusion. "It doesn't make sense."

Giles used a white handkerchief to wipe the lenses of his glasses with great care. He watched the cloth as it moved between his fingers, rubbing gentle circles over the glass. He finished and looked up at the three other people occupying the library with him.

Willow, Xander, and Jenny looked back at him.

He slipped his glasses on as he tucked his handkerchief back into his pocket. "I made a choice, the repercussions of which Buffy found objectionable."

"A lot of your decisions are objectionable, like that tie. I find it very objectionable," Xander said with a cheeky little grin.

"Xander," Willow chided with a slight whine.

"What did you do Rupert?" Jenny asked quietly.

Giles drew in a shallow breath. "Billy," He finally answered simply.

"What does Billy have to do with Buffy leaving?" Willow asked. "Why would Buffy get upset over you saving Billy?" Willow asked.

"We saved Billy! Took care of that twisted coach as well," Xander added. His voice sounded unusually harsh to Giles' ear, as if the young man took the entire incident personally.

Jenny knew the truth. He could see it in her eyes. Still she asked, "What did you do Rupert?" Her voice put a chill in the air.

Giles felt it tingle over his skin. Understanding flashed over Willow's face. The young genius looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. Her face drained of color and she looked physically ill.

"Try to understand. I did what needed to be done. It was the only way to verify the veracity of our information. The most expedient anyway. It wasn't right. It wasn't moral, but I would do the same again if the situation required it."

"Do what?" Xander asked clearly confused.

"Well that's good to know." Buffy's voice floated out of the deep shadows created by the numerous book shelves.

Heads turned and chairs toppled over with an unnoticed clatter. A chorus of enthused, "Buffy," rang out from a pair of throats.

The small blonde stepped into the pool of dim light. Both Willow and Xander surged toward their friend in a mad dash; Willow outdistancing the lanky brunette with ease. The tiny redhead crashed into Buffy gripping her in a fierce hug. A hug Buffy was only too happy to reciprocate.

"What happened? Why'd you take off, without a word? Your mom's been calling. I've been worried, everybody's been worried."

"Sorry," Buffy managed to cut in. "I just needed to get away. Think some stuff over?"

Xander's eyes hardened as his gaze settled beyond Buffy. "What's he doing here?" He glared daggers at the vampire lurking in the shadows.

"Xander, if you would please?" Giles pleaded softly in the hushed atmosphere.

On top of Giles polished accent Buffy said, "He's with me." Her words were for Xander, but her steely eye stare never left the Englishman. "I don't suppose there're any watchers back in the motherland that wouldn't've done things any different then you?"

Giles shook his head.

Buffy nodded. She had expected as much, had hoped for it. Much as she didn't want to admit it Giles had hacked out a place in her life. She didn't want to train a new watcher, it was way too time consuming.

"I guess we're stuck with each other then?"

"So it would seem?"


	4. Chap 4: Another Harry's Bar

Chapter Four: Another Harry's Bar

There was something sad in Giles eyes, almost tortured and Buffy had the feeling she was the one that had put it there. She hated it being there, hated the way it made this man appear pathetic, in his own eyes if no one else's. She hated that she was the one that put it there with her accusations and arrogance and her righteous indignation.

No matter how hard she tried to force the memories out of her head they just wouldn't go away. Repress and regress. Those were her two favorite coping techniques, only they weren't working. The memories of being a vampire, of craving blood, snuck up on her constantly. Thrilling her and disgusting her by turns.

Buffy had bullied Giles into his office so she could talk to him away from prying eyes; and Angel would make everyone would stay back, far enough so they didn't hear things they shouldn't.

Just because she was seriously contemplating sending Giles back to the Watcher Council in little boxes with a note saying, "Oops. I think I broke him, could you send me another?" Was no reason for the others to see him as anything other then her Watcher.

_Do you know what I hate the most_?

"Never knowing…" Giles said softly, Buffy frowned, a slight crease as Giles words seemed to answer her thoughts in a disquieting fashion. It took her a second to realize she had spoken out loud. "…if your thoughts are your own or what some bloody twit is shoving in your head. If the words coming out of your mouth are what you would say or a sound-bite for a laugh track. Not knowing if it's me that wants to sit, stand or do a belly flop off the stacks."

The barest glimmer of a smile graced Buffy's lips. She wanted to laugh out loud at the image, but refused. She was angry with Giles, enraged even. He didn't get to smooth it over with a little self deprecating humor.

Hearing his words echo her thoughts so similarly was eerie. It raised questions and doubts, forced her to acknowledge that for all their differences they were quite similar. Too much for her liking.

"I don't know if I'm ever going to forgive you," she said suddenly, tired of listening to the same thoughts regurgitate themselves.

Giles nodded solemnly as he said, "I quite understand. I can contact the council, I'm sure they could have a replacement some time next week. If you'd find that more—"

"I want to," Buffy cut in. A short bark of sardonic laughter followed. "Every time I stop thinking about what you did, it's like it never happened and then I think about it and it's like learning about it all over again. That fresh slap of, my god how could Giles just…" She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her bare arms.

"I'm not a…" He stopped quietly, as he searched for the words. "There's a part of me, a cold measured bastard that's bred into all Watchers. It is ingrained in us from the first word, the first step. All we are taught is the Watcher's way. For a time I managed to escape, I even managed to find love within a small group of friends, but in the end…" He paused for a moment. "My first duty, my loyalty, has always been to the Council Buffy…"

Again he stopped and Buffy can't believe she's never seen how much Giles feels, how deep his emotions run. Why would she, he was always distant, so emotionally detached from everything and everyone. _Just keep telling yourself that_. _When'd you ever treat Giles like anything close to a human_? _When'd he ever act like he cared_, she snapped at herself.

"The thought of something happening to you," he continued as he took off his glasses, tossing them onto his desk. "I don't think I would be able to abide that."

"I don't want to die," she breathed softly.

"My lord Buffy," Giles said coming round the desk, but stopping well short of her. His face straining with emotions, trying to put words to feelings he's never had to deal with before. "That is the very last thing I want for you."

"I'm only sixteen years old Giles, I didn't ask for this destiny, this death sentence hanging over my head. My whole life was planned out, I would fall in love, go to prom, college, get a good paying job doing something close to nothing but different from the day before, maybe acting, have a whirlwind romance, maybe three or four before settling down and getting married and adopting several underprivileged children from third world countries and dieing when I'm so old I'll be happy its over."

Giles smiled, a weak little grin, at Buffy's rambling rant. "If I could take it from you Buffy I would. I would make it so you were never burdened with any of this."

"Sure," Buffy said with forced playfulness. "Thanks. Take the knowledge with the power. You're just gonna turn me into vamp sauté."

Giles blanched at the statement and stammered, "I assure you Buffy that that is hardly my intention."

"Relax Giles," Buffy finally cut in sparing the Englishman any further floundering. "I know what you mean." She exhaled, seemed calmer then she had in some time. "I know you'd do what you can for me, but this is my job and I'll do it because nobody else can, and if I don't… People will die." She took another breath and appeared calmer. "About my impending death, what can you tell me?"

"Yes well," Giles murmured slipping back into a more comfortable role. "Fortunately we do have nearly three weeks, nineteen days to be precise, in which to formulate a course of action that's resolution doesn't culminate in your demise."

"I hope you do a better job sweet talking Ms. Calendar," Buffy said in a too innocent voice as Giles reached for his glasses.

Giles paused, his hand hovering inches above the desktop. "That is one, among many topics, you and I shall never discuss."

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Cordelia Chase, queen of Sunnydale High School, strode down the wide halls with an imperious glare cast at all of the miscreant's filling the corridor without seeing any of them. Her usual entourage, of socially elite, was oddly absent. She didn't want to say her flock was avoiding her, but there was a definite feel of abandonment in the air.

Nobody had said anything to her, but recently there had been a few too many occasions of being forced into too much contact with Buffy and her band of freaks. Each time had been necessary. Each time things at school had started to get strange and when things started to get strange at Sunnydale you knew things were bad and Buffy seemed to know about all the weirdness.

Cordelia didn't know if the weirdness was drawn to Buffy or Buffy to it. What she did know was that Buffy had a way of dealing with it, so she did what any community conscious person would do. It was really no different then somebody witnessing a crime and calling the police. Only the police in this case was a transfer student from Los Angeles, who was successfully de-evolving socially. And because she had an over develop sense of responsibility she was being ostracized.

She felt, rather then saw, the two people fall in beside her, her gaze took them in with barely a flicker of dark eyes. She suppressed the urge to be violently ill by their presence and actually sense Willow cringe away from her. A warm, fuzzy feeling suffused her and she smiled knowing Willow was still completely terrified of her. "Whatever it is make it quick. Your mere presence in my vicinity could lead to a communicable infection by the social disease you two carry. I'm gonna have to skip next class just so I can go home and burn this outfit."

Willow shot a glare past Cordelia towards Xander. "I told you this wasn't going to work," she said accusingly.

Xander's eyes had a vaguely glazed overcast to them. Cordelia frowned and said, "Ew. If you don't stop imagining me naked I'm gonna have Buffy do whatever it is she does and have her do it to you." Xander's smile widened briefly, just until he doubled over gasping. "Shouldn't think about any girl naked. No girl thinks about you that way, present company excluded, so do us a courtesy. Kay?" She looked at Willow. "So?"

"We found a prophecy that says Buffy is going to die at the Spring Fling and that you're going to be involved so we all thought, and by we I mean Xander not me because I don't believe you would want to help research with us, but Xander thought you might so we came to ask if you would. Help research so we can figure out a way to keep Buffy alive."

Cordelia waited a moment, making sure Willow is actually done after that rapid fire delivery. The words had come out so quickly, so close together that for a moment Cordelia thought she was listening to a human Gatling gun. "You mean," she blanched at the thought of giving voice to the next words, "Voluntarily spend time with you people." She shuddered. "I'm gonna need to get vaccinated for social rabies," she muttered darkly before turning her attention to Willow. "I may drop in unexpectedly with some vital piece of information from time to time Blue Light, but it'll be a cold day on Rodeo Drive before I start spending quality time with the Wal-Mart shoppers."

"Angel's going to be there," Xander added as he shambled up to the two girls.

"I'll be by at six," Cordelia said and then turned away from them.

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Cordelia stared at the darkening screen with blank eyes. In a way, she had been impressed by Giles' apartment; it wasn't bad, better then what she expected somebody to afford on a Teacher's salary. The books she expected, the drab British décor had been a no-brainer; the top of the line plasma screen television on the other hand had been a major surprise. Obviously Xander must have picked it out, and so much as she hated to admit it, he actually had a touch of taste, and if what she saw was any indication he was a bit of a hero. He actually resuscitated Buffy.

She could feel everybody's eyes on her; Angel and Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles and Jenny. They weren't really on her, but there was a sense of waiting of needing somebody to get the ball rolling. "That was way disturbing," she said.

"You have no idea," Jenny mumbled.

"Yes, I think we can all agree that watching ourselves—"

"I never realized my beauty mark was so visible before," she said touching the small mole. "I've been thinking about having it lasered—"

"Only if they start at the neck," Xander supplied with a broad smile.

"At least they'd have to remove my head to classify me as brain dead."

"Quite," Giles murmured cutting off their interplay. In a louder voice he continued, "If we could please concentrate on the matter at hand. Ideas on how we can prevent Buffy's death."

"I got it," Xander said suddenly with a boundless sort of enthusiasm. "We load up a bunch of water-guns with holy water, get a lot of crosses, paint them on the back of our shirts or something. Ooh maybe get a priest to bless our golf clubs." He looked around at everybody's less then ecstatic faces. "What? It worked in Dogma."

"Ooh, I know," Cordelia starts in imitation of Xander's tone. "Buffy, Willow, and me can invite them over for blessed tea and holy wafers."

"Children!" Giles fumed. "Intelligent ideas."

"Do you even know if it's real?" Cordelia asked.

Giles nodded, a bit of strain around his eyes that Cordelia doesn't recall seeing before. "The information's been verified Cordelia," Jenny answered.

"So you're sure it's not an elaborate hoax?"

Xander shoots Cordelia an incredulous glare as he demanded, "And how do you fake that?"

"You're kidding right?" Cordelia mumbled half to herself. "With the weirdness that's Sunnydale? Please?"

"What have we established so far?" Angel asked. His tone a little harsh as he tried to defuse the bickering teenagers. "The footage that we've just seen is real and if we do nothing to alter it Buffy will die."

"Does she actually have to go?" Cordelia asked sounding exceedingly bored.

Giles blinked, and most everyone else looked like they had been pole axed; everyone except Buffy. For the first time all night her eyes seemed alive, the specter of death was gone from them, and a small smile was playing at the corner of her lips. "I'm not quite sure I follow what you're saying."

Cordelia sighed extensively as she turned biting eyes on Giles. "Of course you wouldn't. Unless you pull it out of those big books you need everything spelled out in block letters."

"I'm sure you're quite accurate in your assessment of my shortcomings," Giles stated brushing aside the insult as if it was of no importance to him. "If you wouldn't mind expanding on your initial thought. I'm sure everybody here is highly intrigued by what you have to say. I can most readily assure you that you have my undivided attention."

For a moment Cordelia remained hard, impassive not daring to let her guard down even a little around these people. Only there's something in their faces, something honest, not at all like her normal friends who bob their heads and make appropriate noise at the proper place. These people wanted to know what she thought, even super smart Willow and king of clowns Xander. Still she couldn't keep the edge out of her voice as she asked, "Is something bad going to happen, if you know Buffy doesn't show up. You know, worse then dieing and being resuscitated by Xander. Who knows how many times Xander managed to slip Buffy the tongue while she was dead."

"I would never—" Xander started.

"Would it work?" Buffy demanded unconcerned by Xander defending himself. "Could I simply not show up for a prophecy."

"I'm not altogether sure," Giles answered in a soft murmur. "Most of the time we don't even know a prophecy has been fulfilled until after the fact. If then. We have several weeks, I suggest several hours of research each and every night, possibly a Saturday or Sunday afternoon." Giles glanced at Angel, "If it wouldn't be much of an inconvenience, perhaps you'd be able to provide Buffy with a bit of assistance at night?"

Angel's dark eyes drifted toward Buffy for a moment as the tiny girl approached Cordelia. He nodded saying, "It's what I should've been doing from the beginning."

Cordelia smiled as Buffy stopped in front of her. She looked as if she swallowed something that wasn't sitting quite right. Willow looked their way several times but as soon as she noticed Cordelia noticing her, she instantly found something else of interest.

"We're not friends, I doubt if we ever will be," Buffy finally said. If Cordelia wasn't just imagining things she could have sworn she heard a tremor of regret in Buffy's voice. "Thank you. I think you just saved my life…" The words sounded like they were drawn through a cheese grater. "… I'm not sure if anybody else here could've thought of something so simple. Willow and Giles with their way big brains, and Ms. Calendar with pagan computer mojo."

"But you're forgetting Xander," Cordelia points out.

"Please," Buffy said with a girlish giggle. "Did you hear what his idea was? Water guns with holy water… Where does he get this stuff?"

Cordelia smiled at Buffy before she realized it. The two of them were a lot more alike then anybody wanted to admit. If not for that destiny thing that landed squarely on her shoulders they could have been real friends. With how everything stood right now, they couldn't be further apart if they stood on opposite poles.

"How did you come up with it?" Buffy asked.

"You're kidding right? My parents are always holding these diners and other functions I have no interest in attending, so I always make sure I have other plans." She grabbed her purse from where she had been sitting. Her guts twisted into knots at what she was about to do, but it had to be done; she couldn't have people look at her the way they looked at Buffy. If word got out that she spent more then a few minutes in their presence that was exactly what would happen to her. "I'm glad that I was able to help, maybe even save your life. You've done a lot of good in this town even if nobody will admit it and you deserve way better then a memory of Xander's lips on yours; but like you said we're not friends, never will be. It was a mistake for me to even come here." With her head high, an imperious glare cut a path to the door.

The last thing she heard before closing the door behind her, was Buffy saying, "Don't Xander." She knew Buffy would understand even if no one else did.


End file.
